When it comes to data breaches and your business, it’s not a matter of if one will happen, but when one will happen. This reality applies not only to large enterprises but firms of all sizes. In fact, 47 percent of small and medium businesses (SMBs) experienced a cyberattack in 2019.
The threats are getting more complex and frequent and most businesses have a hard time keeping up with them. That is why Managed Detection and Response (MDR) is becoming an increasingly popular service. With MDR companies can quickly gain the ability to detect cyber threats, know where a breach is occurring, and quickly respond without a significant effort or budget.
What is Managed Detection and Response (MDR)?
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) is a service that combines technology with human analysis in order to detect and respond to cybersecurity threats faster and more efficiently. While many security solutions have detection capabilities, most lack an effective mitigation response to malicious activity. You need detection AND response. The MDR approach leverages a dedicated team of security professionals and advanced technology to combine 24/7 oversight with an effective response system.
Threats Don’t Sleep and Neither Should Your Solution
Cybercriminals aren’t Monday through Friday, nine-to-fivers, and even if they were, their technology never sleeps. This global challenge makes 24/7 protection necessary for businesses of all shapes and sizes. MDR can detect an issue in the middle of the night and implement a response straight away to mitigate the danger.
Furthermore, with MDR, you’re not only securing the perimeter from bad actors and bots; you’re also incorporating threat hunting like vulnerability scanning and collating that information, so you can genuinely identify risks and implement remediations.
It’s also important to note that how a business responds to an attack is crucial. Your response, whether it’s creating an additional rule, closing out an access on your network, or cleaning up malicious activity that’s already on your network, makes a difference in how a potential next attack will unfold. Understanding the responses today allows both your managed security service provider (MSSP) and your business to more effectively detect and resolve issues tomorrow.
MDR is the Gold Standard for Managed Security Services
MDR’s detection and response capabilities work together quickly and effectively, creating a gold standard among managed security services.
The cybersecurity landscape is vast, the technology and resources needed to protect an organization adequately can be costly. This prevents many organizations from implementing these critical security solutions. According to a 2020 Ponemon study 61 percent of organizations failed to implement detection and response technology because they lacked the staff to properly manage it. Leveraging an MDR team allows your business to tap into those advanced technologies without making the heavy capital investment needed to source, develop and manage them in-house.
With MDR, you can elevate your security capabilities to an enterprise level more quickly by leveraging the resources and expertise of an organization that specializes in implementing and supporting security technologies and has the team already in place to perform advanced threat hunting and mitigation.
Other benefits of MDR include:
- Identifying more threats – MDR significantly increases the number of and types of attacks that are detected and stopped compared to antivirus solutions, which miss an average of 60 percent of attacks.
- Reducing attack dwell time – The lifecycle of a breach factors heavily into that breach’s overall cost. MDR reduces this time exponentially, which limits those costs (financial and otherwise).
- Proactively mitigating attacks – MDR uses a proactive approach to mitigate attacks more quickly, preventing them from spreading across your network and causing additional damage.
- Combating ransomware – Ransomware doesn’t garner the headlines it once did because it’s become commonplace, but it’s just as prevalent – and costly – as it’s ever been. MDR delivers significant ransomware protection.
Why Your Business Needs an MDR Strategy
Quite simply, with MDR you will be able to identify, stop and recover from more types of attacks more quickly than with traditional security solutions alone.
MDR easily pays for itself when you consider the costs of ransomware attacks, data breaches, or downtime (and the associated reputation costs).
The outsourced nature of MDR also delivers significant cost advantages. Not having to hire resources for 24/7 support and not having to make long-term capital investments on the infrastructure and the technology – as well as the associated maintenance that comes with maintaining and supporting both – can take a burden off your back and your budgets.
A Solution for Businesses of All Sizes
Whether your organization has 10 people or 1,000, having an effective managed security service is essential. With price points that work regardless of your market, sector, business, and risk tolerance, MDR can reduce your exposure and help you sleep at night.
Not all MDR solutions are equal, however. When considering a solution for your business make sure to choose a technology platform that is proven effective as recognized by independent studies. ICSA labs, for example, tests and certifies endpoint protection software against advanced threats. Another important consideration is the vendors’ ability to deliver 24/7/365 advanced threat hunting and mitigation services that can reduce response times and minimize the damage caused by cyberattacks. Many vendors focus on the technology, but the technology alone is not enough. Expert human analysis and quick, decisive action can mean the difference between success and failure when an attack is suspected.
To request a consultation, visit https://www.tpx.com/request-consultation/ or call 855-924-1393 to see how we can help.
Here are some additional resources you can use:
Common Cybersecurity Threats SMBs are Facing
Cybersecurity Horror Stories That Will Keep You Awake at Night
Don’t Get Hacked: Simple and Cheap Cybersecurity Tips for SMBs
About the Author
Joe Royer is the Product Manager for IT and Cloud services at TPx. He has 25 years of industry experience in sales, consulting and product management for several leading MSPs.